


The Silent Killer

by LadyAnneNeville



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Angst, Cancer, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAnneNeville/pseuds/LadyAnneNeville
Summary: Casey recieves an uncomfortable phonecall. He needs to attend an urgent appointment with an oncologist in the morning.He'd just been having some mild stomach symptoms, he didn't even know he was sick.Takes place at somepoint in mid season eight.
Relationships: Matthew Casey & Kelly Severide, Matthew Casey & Stella Kidd, Stella Kidd/Kelly Severide
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	The Silent Killer

They were clearing up from dinner when Casey’s phone rang, he walked away to answer it.

When he returned he looked like he had seen a ghost.

“What happened?” Stella asked.

“That was my doctor.” Casey started.

“Are you sick?” 

“No, at least, I didn’t think so. I’ve been losing weight without trying and I’ve had some mild stomach problems. I didn’t think it was anything but it had been going on a few months so I thought I’d get it checked out. I didn’t think I was sick though. The doctor just called to say my test results came back and I have an appointment with an oncologist tomorrow morning, and I should move any other commitments to make it.”

“You have cancer?” Severide asked.

“They didn’t say that. Maybe they need to do more tests to confirm it but if they made an urgent appointment with an oncologist then that’s what they must be thinking.”

“What time’s the appointment, I’ll drive you.” Severide stated.

“No, we’re supposed to be on shift, I’m the Captain, I can’t leave 51 two members down. The appointments at nine, I’ll come in early for morning briefing, get to the appointment, with any luck 51 will only need a relief lieutenant for truck for a couple of hours, I can be back by lunch and do the rest of shift.” Casey stated. “I’ll call Boden and give him the heads up, then I’ll contact headquarters and sort out relief.”

“So you want to work tomorrow, no way.” Severide was angry.

“Why not. I don’t feel unwell, certainly not bad enough to miss shift.”

“Casey, you just found out you might have cancer. There’s no way you’re going to be ready to be on shift tomorrow.”

“It’s my decision.” 

“At least have someone at the appointment with you.” Severide urged.

“I’ll go with you, Casey.” Stella said. “Kelly’s right, you shouldn’t be alone, especially if it might be bad news. This way 51’s not down two officers and Boden will understand. Depending on what the doctor says you can decide whether or not to go back to shift.”

Casey looked from one of his friends to the other and backed down. He felt a bit like he was in a haze. “I’ll call Boden.” He said, before backing away to sort everything out for the morning.

The comfortably jovial atmosphere of earlier in the evening had disappeared and nobody felt like going to Molly’s. They gathered on the couch and watched something on television, but none of them really paid attention. A few hours later they vanished into their respective bedrooms for an early night, the heaviness of the news weighing heavily upon them.

The next morning Kelly was woken up by Stella shaking him.

“What?” He asked.

“You need to check on Casey.” She said.

“You check on Casey if you’re worried.” He said, and rolled over to bury his head in the pillow.

“Really, after what we found out last night you’re not going to check on him.” Stella asked. Then the events of the previous evening came rushing back. Kelly sat up and checked the clock, it was before Matt usually emerged from his room.

“Why do you think we need to check on him?” Kelly asked.

“His alarm has been going off for ten minutes.” Stella said. This was a huge red flag. It was relatively unusual that Casey slept until the time his alarm was due to go off and he was annoyingly good at waking up at the first alarm rather than the second, third or fourth. In the nearly twenty years Severide had known him Matt had never just left his alarm going off for minutes at a time.

He jumped out of bed suddenly worried and it came out in anger. “And you didn’t get in there to check on him.” He practically yelled.

“It might be nothing.” Stella responded. “Besides, he’s in bed, he might be naked, he’s my boss, I can’t see him naked, that would be all kinds of awkward.” But Kelly was gone, already in Casey’s room.

“Stella, get in here now!” He yelled, suddenly sounding absolutely terrified. She rushed into Casey’s bedroom to find Kelly bent over the bed doing compressions.

“He’s not breathing, I couldn’t find a pulse, I need you to do rescue breaths.” Kelly yelled. Stella froze for just a second. It was always different treating someone you knew but somehow on shift, you were always prepared for the possibility. This wasn't a shift. This was home and somehow it felt even harder, but she was a first responder so she arrived at the bed and reached to stabilise Casey’s face to do rescue breaths. Then she stopped.

His skin was cool to the touch, too cool. The kind of cold that meant without external factors like weather or cold water meant that someone wasn’t unconscious they were dead. She looked at her boyfriend, blinking tears out of his eyes as he pounded on his best friends chest. She looked at Casey’s face. Eyes closed, mouth fallen open. It was almost peaceful.

“Stella, you need to move, he needs rescue breaths. And call 911.” Kelly demanded.

“Kelly, stop.” She urged. Severide shook his head.

“No way.” 

“Kelly, he’s cold. He’s been dead for hours.” She repeated. She placed her hands on his shoulders to try and encourage him to step back and he jerked his arm back, throwing her back a few feet and against the wall. He must have heard the thump as she hit it because it pulled him out of his desperate attempts to resurrect Casey. He lurched back and turned to look at her. He looked overwhelmed and completely out of his depth.

“You didn’t hurt me.” Stella said. “I’m okay.”

“Casey was fine last night, he was healthy, he was okay.” Kelly managed to get out. Stella moved forward to take him into her arms as he trembled, all the adrenaline seeping out of him and a few desperate gasping sobs emerged before he forced his breathing to calm down.

Eventually he pulled away.

“Do you want to sit with him for a bit.” Stella asked, trying to be as gentle as she could, clamping down on her own grief and shock because Kelly needed her to be strong right now. He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the body of his closest friend, tears once again seeping from his eyes.

Stella found she couldn’t look at Casey’s body. It was too quick, too overwhelming. The possibility he had cancer was bad enough, but cancer was something you get treatment for, it was something you fight. Casey hadn’t had any treatment, he hadn’t even had a confirmed diagnosis, all he had was an appointment.

It was nearly impossible to reconcile Casey, her dynamic, brave, energetic Captain who always put everyone else’s needs before his own with the cold body in his bed. It was a dangerous job, and they lived with that danger everyday, Casey more than most given the risks he took, but the idea of him slipping away in his sleep with no warning, as though he was a man of nearly eighty rather than nearly forty was utterly alien. 

Instead she focused her attention on her boyfriend who looked like his whole world had fallen apart. And to be honest, in a way it had. She stepped outside the room unable to cope with the heaviness of grief permeating the air.

She didn’t want to call in the police, or a coroner yet. It felt too final, too real, and Kelly probably needed the time to say goodbye. She could probably put it off for a few hours, but she did need to call Boden. They were all due on shift in an hour and she knew that neither she or Kelly would be ready and Casey…

Well Casey would never be back on shift again. Tears leaked from her eyes at the thought and she brushed them away, pulling herself together by nothing more than force of will. She needed to make that phone call. Now. Before she lost her nerve or Boden called Kelly asking why they weren’t at shift.

The call was excruciating, and twenty minutes later Donna and Boden were at her door. They hadn’t said they were coming. She was still in her pyjamas but embarrassment over opening the door to her battalion chief in her pyjamas was quickly overridden by her gratefulness they were there and she didn’t have to carry this alone anymore. To her embarrassment she burst into tears immediately upon seeing them. 

Donna wasted no time in sweeping her into a massive hug. 

“I’m so, so sorry Stella.” She murmured into Stella’s hair. “Terrence is with my parents for the day, I am here for whatever you need. Stella tried to straighten up and pull away, fully aware that she was ruining her tough girl image and looked towards the Chief. She wanted to ask what about shift but she couldn’t get the words out. Boden looked like he had aged about a decade since she last saw him two days ago. She knew he cared for Casey like a son and always had. This must be impossibly hard for him too.

“Where are they?” Boden asked simply. Stella found herself feeling immense gratitude that he had used the plural, as though, just for a moment, Casey was still a whole living person.

“Casey’s room.” She choked out. Boden nodded once before disappearing down the hall. 

Boden wasn’t sure quite what he was expecting when he entered the room. Had he taken the time to consider it Severide sitting on the edge of the bed clutching Casey’s cold hand like it was a lifeline wouldn’t be completely unexpected but the sight of Matt Casey, lying so still that he couldn’t possibly be sleeping felt like a punch in the gut. It didn’t feel right. To lose his second in command and one of his best men like this. He knew he didn’t have long. He had taken the house out of service for the morning and relief crews were coming in from lunchtime but he still wanted to deliver the news to the rest of the house in person, they deserved that much at least.

A couple of strings were pulled and Casey’s death was treated as a line of duty death. With all the efforts Boden was putting into place to create a safer environment for firefighters and protect them from cancer, he wouldn’t have guessed that Casey was already suffering from it. A full honours funeral was the very least Casey deserved. 

At the wake Severide wasn’t speaking to anyone, bracketed in one of the booths at Molly’s with Boden opposite him, Cruz on one side and Stella on the other. She removed herself to get more drinks but found herself stood at the bar in a bit of a haze. Hermann pulled her out of it.

“Hey” He smiled kindly at her, “how’s Severide doing?” He asked, as he put a few more drinks on the bar for her to take back to her table.

“Well he’s here, which is better than I thought he’d manage a few days ago.” Stella replied.

“You know the first time I ever met Severide he was trying to look after Casey.” Hermann reminisced.

“Really?” Stella asked.

“Oh yeah, they were at the academy together. That’s how they met, and afterwards Casey was assigned to House 51 as a candidate, second shift, he was moved about eight months later and didn’t come back until he became Lieutenant, but I was helping to train him. Anyway, Casey was two shifts in and we’d been inviting him out for a drink, to get to know everyone better. Severide was first shift at a different house but he turned up to pick Casey up, as Casey didn’t own a car at that point and before he walked in, this bold as brass twenty two year old Severide notices I’m also on truck and pulls me aside for a word. Now I was pretty amused at the whole thing, this candidate just out of the academy wanted to have a word with me, which was pretty cocky even for the son of a well respected battalion chief. It turned out Casey had been trying to work out whether or not he was being hazed when we were asking him out for a drink. He was nineteen and instead of just owning up to how old he was, he was twisting himself in knots trying to work out if this was some kind of trick to get him to do something illegal. Honestly it was pretty adorable looking back. It was hard not to have a soft spot for Casey back then, who even at that point was a keep his head down and do the work type, exactly what you want in a candidate.” Herman stopped speaking suddenly, as another wave of grief hit him.

“Casey was really nineteen when he became a candidate?”

“Oh yeah, and even then it was obvious how talented he was. No family connections to speak of in the CFD but he impressed enough people on the way up to make Lieutenant at 26 and receive his first lieutenants posting within a few months of passing the exam, and that was here, at Firehouse 51.”

“I never knew that.”

“Because Casey was never one to boast.” Hermann said. “He was just a really good man and it’s a crime the way he was taken from us without warning.”  
“Kelly’s taking this really hard.” Stella admitted. Hermann met her eyes and was very serious for a moment.

“God knows I loved Casey, but Kelly Severide took Casey under his wing when he was barely an adult himself and he has spent most of the last twenty years looking out for him and protecting him when he could, and Casey did the same for Severide. They balanced each other out. And now, for reasons beyond our understanding, Casey was taken far too young and Severide couldn’t stop it, he didn’t even have a chance to save him. You need to be there for him. All of us will be there for him as much as possible, but the only one he’s likely to let in is you Stella, don’t let him down, and don’t hesitate to lean on me, lean on anyone here as much as you need to. It isn’t a weight you should bear alone.”

“I won’t let him down Hermann. I promise.” Stella vowed. There was a moment of understanding between them, and she gathered the drinks and returned to her table, pressing her shoulder against Kelly’s in silent solidarity as Boden carried the conversation with an anecdote from when Casey was a candidate.

The coroner’s report took far longer to come back, and by the time it did it held no surprises. Matthew Casey had been living with pancreatic cancer. Known as the silent killer it was often undetected with either no symptoms or very mild symptoms until the late stage. In unusual cases there were only mild symptoms right up until the point of death. 

Even if the oncologist’s appointment had been a week earlier there would have been nothing they could do except perhaps get some affairs in order and lessen the shock.

Severide took a two month absence from the CFD, and considered whether or not to make it permanent, but eventually chose to return and honour his friend's memory. In any way that he could.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, Please leave a review if you liked it. I have only been writing for this fandom a few weeks but not many people have reviewed my work so if you have a second please write something nice if you like my story.


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